Saturday, October 30, 2010

People deal with stress in different ways. I have a few friends who splurge on chocolates or sweets when they are stressed, then there are others who go nuts for snacks and still a few others (and now the pie-chart is dwindling) who work-out a lot or take walks during lunch-time to beat the stress. I have never been a sweets person (note the 's' in sweets, less you would think I am not a sweet person :D) I rarely if ever crave anything sweet and I like dark chocolate but don't really crave it either. For me it has always been savory comfort food from my child-hood which acts as an instant stress-buster.

It is unfair how a few regional cuisines (like Maharashtra for example) are just so absent in the array of cuisines featured under the global "Indian cuisines" tag. Even in the heart of the bay area, there is hardly any restaurant which serves authentic Marathi food that I can turn to. Anyway, so as a result of a few stressful work weeks, I have been craving and cooking a lot more that usual Marathi food at home, which is why you would likely see a larger share of Marathi recipes on this space, just in case you were wondering :)

Today's recipe is batata rassa or curried potatoes. Batata =potatoes and rassa=gravy. The one unique touch that makes it Marathi for me is the addition of Goda masala. This is a spice blend common to Marathi cuisine made out of coriander, cumin, sesame seeds, coconut powder and a few other spices. I have never tried to make it at home but thats just because my Mom is really good about sending me a couple of packets of our favorite brand of goda masala every so often that I never seem to run out of it. If you can't find goda masala, feel free to substitute with garam masala; it would still be very tasty, but perhaps won't be equally reminiscent of those idle school nights sitting around the dining table savoring batata rassa with the freshest fulka and nothing else to worry about except perhaps a Biology homework so something silly like that.... whenever did life get so complicated ;)

PJ, thank you for sharing this. I love finding out about other's local cusine, especially from their mother's recipes. Nothing better! This looks so good and comforting to me. I find I am drawn to this type of food too rather that sweets. I can take or leave cake and ice cream, but this...I don't think I could walk past it without wanting some.

You are soo right! Atleast you are in the US - here in Delhi, sometimes I crave for a nice traditional Tamil meal NOT cooked by me. And there's just no option :( or atleast nothing worth speaking of except for an awful Saravana Bhavan in central Delhi which is just not worth the trudge.

Now i have to hunt for kala masala/goda masala, which i don't to substitute with GM, they look delicious regarding stress, it varies so much, it can depend on climate also may be, during winter at work i always look for something savoy sigh! though i have mini dark chocolate store at work :P

Lovely dish....it's so true sometime u just want some simple home style comforting food & u can't get it, there's no problem making it by yourself but it's nice for a change that u get it readymade but in that case we wouldn't have got this recipe from u....lol...never used goda masala....looked at the link u mentioned for the same, do have all the stuff in my pantry except coconut....so may be I should give it a try sometime....

Dear PrajktaThank you and Happy Diwali to you.I am travelling in and out of India and was lucky to be here in Diwali.Bit tied up, hence cant visit the blogs. My younger brother's wife is Maharastian, so I often eat Maha dishes ..Let me check if she has Goda masala. Then I will try it.Have a nice Sunday Ushnishda

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This is a web catalog of the recipes that I have tried and tasted in my kitchen. While these recipes and instructions have worked well for me, please use all the information and the recipes from Ginger and Garlic at your own risk.